Tis the Last Rose
by The Emerald's Edge
Summary: Another AU one-shot following the battle of and the fall of Beacon Academy. A short tale about a girl and her dog.


"Zwei!" her voice echoed as she walked through the forest looking for their dog, "Zwei! Come on boy, it's dinner time!"

She and her father had been looking for close to an hour now, their dog Zwei just ran off for some reason. Without warning, he just began whining and whimpering before running off something he had never done before. She called his name again, but the only response she got was her own echo and the chirping of birds. The leaves rustled and fell as the wind blew by, a brisk breeze reached out to calm her, her bright golden hair following it's direction.

"Dammit, where are you?" she wondered before her scroll rang, her father was calling her, "Dad, did you find him?"

She heard him sigh, "No. It's getting late, let's head back to the house maybe he came back."

"Maybe" she replied, "I'll see you at home."

The two returned home, thankfully Zwei had returned. He was curled up in front of her bedroom door, sleeping. He heard them approach and opened his eyes, his ears folding down when he saw them. He whimpered when she knelt down next to him and again when she pet him.

"You want to go in huh?" she asked him, "Alright I'll open the door for you."

She stood up and opened the door, "Dinner's almost ready" she said as he walked into the room.

The corgi walked into the bedroom and jumped onto the bed whining once more as he curled up and closed his eyes. He felt her hand scratch behind his ears, his stubby tail wagging a little as he let out a content whine. He nuzzled her pillow whining again as he felt her hand go from his ears to his back.

"Hey Zwei" she said quietly, "Who's a good boy?"

It was a month after Beacon was attacked, they found her collapsed at the top of the tower, her uncle picked her up and rushed to get her help. She spent the first three weeks in the hospital getting multiple surgeries for her wounds, they came to visit her every day. They brought gifts to cheer her up, news from the city to keep her updated, though she was sad that they lost, she was happy that everyone made it out, well almost everyone. They still lost Pyrrha and Ozpin, but considering the scale of the attack it could have been much worse.

"Hey Sis!" her older sister said opening the door.

Her eyelids fluttered, "Yang" she smiled weakly.

The blonde rushed to her side, "How you feeling?"

Her eyes closed again, "Still tired" she said opening her eyes again, "How's dad and Uncle Qrow?"

"Freaking out" her sister told her, "They had something to do so they couldn't come visit right now, but I brought someone else with me."

Her little sister looked at her as she bent over to grab something off the floor, "Ta-da!" she cheered holding up the family dog who's paws wiggled as she held him out to her.

"Zwei!" she smiled and the corgi barked before jumping onto her bed, "Hey boy."

She scratched his ears and back down to the base of his tail and he arched his back smiling with his tongue hanging out before she found his sweet spot and his foot began thumping on the bed.

"He's been moping around the house waiting for you to come home" Yang told her, "We finally got the doctors to let us bring him in to see you."

She laughed as the dog licked her cheek, "Thanks Yang" she said as she hugged Zwei, "Oh I missed you too fuzzy butt."

Yang took a seat next to her bed, "So Weiss and Blake said they'll be able to come visit tomorrow, I'm sure they'll be happy to see you're getting better."

Her sister smiled, "What about Jaune and his team?"

Yang cast her gaze to the floor, "They're still recovering, still trying to accept what happened."

Her sister's smile disappeared, "If I got there sooner" Yang grabbed her hand, "No, Ruby don't think like that. There was nothing you could have done. Even if you got there in time, that woman was able to beat Professor Ozpin. I think the only reason Pyrrha was able to fight her was because that woman was still tired from fighting Ozpin. Even if you got there in time I don't think you would have been able to do much."

She hugged her little sister, "Honestly I'm just happy you're okay."

Ruby hugged her back, "I love you" she said quietly, her breathing getting slower.

Yang squeezed her a little, "Get some rest, sis."

"Will you still be here when I wake up?"

The blonde nodded, "Of course" she kissed her sister's forehead, "Lay down now, the more you rest the faster you'll get out of here."

"I love you" she said again as she returned her head to her pillow.

Yang rubbed her shoulder, "I love you to Ruby."

Zwei whined as she closed her eyes, nuzzling her hand with his nose and licking her fingers. He wagged his tail when her fingers moved to lightly scratch him, but once they stopped he whined again nuzzling her hand once more and again when she didn't respond. He barked at her, but her eyes remained closed and her hand still.

Yang stood up, "Come on Zwei, let's go" she said reaching for him, but he laid down not wanting to be moved.

"Come on, boy" Yang said only to watch the dog turn onto his side, "Come on, none of that. She needs her sleep, we can come see her again later."

He whined as she picked him off the bed and carried him out of the room, looking over her shoulder at Ruby as she slept.

"Zwei!" Yang called to him from the kitchen, "Dinner time boy!"

She climbed the stairs carrying a bowl with her, "Zwei?" she opened the door to look for him seeing him still curled up on her bed, "Come on boy, I know you miss her, I do to, but you can't stay in here by yourself."

He looked up at her and whined again even as she set his bowl down and scooped him up, sitting on the floor and hugging him, "I'm sorry. I know how you feel."

She set him down and began petting him as he laid next to his food bowl, "It'll be okay boy" she said letting her eyes close.

When she opened them again she saw the light from the sun attacked her, forcing her to bring her hand up to block it. She groaned as she stood up, her back stiff from resting against the nightstand. Stretching she felt her joints pop and loosen as she yawned. She looked at her sister's bed expecting to see Zwei, but he wasn't there and the door was open.

"Zwei?" she looked around not seeing him, "Zwei" she called stepping out into the hall.

"Yang?" her father yawned, "What's going on?"

Yang sighed seeing the open front door, "Zwei got out again."

Her father hung his head, "Dammit...where does he keep going?"

Yang looked at the open door again, that's when she saw it. The coat rack next to the door was knocked over and her sister's cloak was gone. She hung her head and hugged herself, she knew where he went.

Walking out of the house without a word she headed to the edge of the nearby cliff. Clearing the tree line she saw him wrapped up in her sister's cloak next to a pair of gravestones. The wind blew, the cold morning air making her tears sting her skin as she walked over to him, he whined when he saw her.

"I'm sorry Zwei" she said starting to cry, "I miss her too."

She looked at the graves, the one of the left was her mother's, Summer Rose, the epitaph reading "Thus kindly I scatter."

Next to her mother's grave, was her sister's, Ruby Rose, "Tis' the last rose of summer" her epitaph read.

Yang dropped to her knees next to the grave and Zwei, crying as he howled at the tombstone, still curled up on the red cloak, still waiting for her to come home.


End file.
